From cell phone cameras to microchips, life on Earth abounds with NASA technology.

Since the Apollo era, NASA technology has found extended life in more terrestrial applicationsto such extent that the space agency set up its Technology Transfer Program (T2) in 1976 to streamline getting its patent offerings to the public. Chances are that players in next months Super Bowl trained on machines derived from microgravity exercise treadmills used by astronauts on the International Space Station. And you can thank a vibration dampening tool in the lunar-bound Space Launch System rocketslated for its first test flight this springfor mitigating shaking in some Manhattan skyscrapers.

Dan Lockney [Photo: NASA]NASA scientists and engineers invent an average of 1,600 to 1,800 devices and release some 5,500 pieces of software a year, though not all get commercialized. Last year, the agency licensed patents to just 220 companies, according to Dan Lockney, T2s program executive for the last two decades. While the T2 website lists its entire patent and software portfolio, plus examples of industrial applications, its annual NASA Spinoff Report highlights each years more novel transfers. Its kind of the greatest hits and some cool stories of what weve been up to lately, says Lockney.

This years report, which posts today on the Spinoff site, features 46 companies that adapted NASA technologies in the past year, plus articles covering NASAs impact on various industries, such as how creating the first vertical farm jumpstarted indoor farming. Its been curated to include a diverse spread of geographic, industry sector, and representation.

The Biomass Production Chamber at Kennedy Space Center in Florida replicates the closed crop-growing environment astronauts will use in space or on other planets (left). San Franciscos Plenty Unlimited adapted this tech, adding farming robots and data to optimize growing conditions (right). [Photos: NASA, Plenty Unlimited]The report features previously published and new stories, such as bacteria-inoculated trees that can clean up pollution. Theres the Iron Man-like RoboGlove, a robotic glove developed with General Motors that gives hand movements extra support and strength, akin to a manual version of a powered exoskeleton. Outlast Technologies in Boulder, CO along with the UK-based Walero translated spacesuit technology into temperature-regulating sportswear for professional auto racers. Denver-based Lunar Outpost is adapting a sensor developed to detect moon dust levels to measure air pollution. Material developed for cryogenic insulation in space has incorporated into outdoor gear to keep people (and batteries) warm. A system for growing plants in space now helps improve indoor air quality and reduces the spread of airborne viruses, like coronavirus. Technology to harness carbon dioxide for other uses on Mars has been repurposed for both emissions control and carbonating beer.

Astronaut Drew Feustel (left) and Romanian rally racer Cristiana Oprea (right) wearing Waleros temperature-regulating fabric originally designed for NASA. [Photos: NASA, Walero]The report also sets the record straight on the urban myth of the failed NASA space pen that the Russians one-upped by using pencils. In fact, astronauts and cosmonauts have used the pressurized Fisher Space Pen to write in microgravity since the 60s, and last year inducted it into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. They dont use a pencil, because you can break the lead off and it floats around, says Lockney.

NASA is both approached by and seeks out companies worldwide that might benefit from its inventions, though all undergo a rigorous application process. We make sure our intellectual property isnt encumbered by a bunch of looky-loos kicking tires, says Lockney. If were going to let you use one of our patents, you have to demonstrate technical and business acumen, and have the resources to bring the technology to market.

This Fisher Bullet model pen celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Space Pen. [Photo: Fisher Pen Company]NASA software is free and doesnt require an application process. But average licensing fees for patented devices run about $5,000 to $10,000, most of which goes back to the inventor as encouragement. Nobodys getting airplane rich, but people work at NASA because they want to work at NASA, says Lockney. Fees are waived for startups and university students. Were trying to get them to consider using NASA R&D as a nugget for their business.

Commercialization is only one type of technology transfer. NASA know-how has also supplemented search and rescue effortsfrom overhauling firefighting protection equipment to repurposing remote-sensing radar technology to detect small movements from buried survivors. After large disasters, sometimes well get a call from the state department, asking, What do yall got? Is there anything that can help with this?' says Lockney.

When 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground in 2010, NASA not only sent engineers who helped design a rescue sled, but also psychologists specializing in confinement and reentry to help mitigate panicking and prepare the miners from emerging to an assault of cameras. And shortly after the pandemic shut down the world two years ago, a handful of Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers crafted a simplified ventilator that didnt rely on the traditional supply chain for parts. After getting emergency FDA clearance, it licensed it for free to 40 companies around the world.

A Spinoffs of Tomorrow section highlights 20 NASA technologies ready for commercialization. They include a biometric identity verification system to unlock phones and computers using heartbeats, a nanomaterial thin-film device that converts carbon dioxide into fuel, and self-healing aluminum that can repair cracks and reverse damage in structures such as aircraft, tanks, and fuel lines.

Lockney noted other technologies in development, such as growing blood, tissues, and cell cultures in microgravity for pharmaceutical experiments. Given the agencys ambitions for long-term human space missions, Lockney speculates about future advances in medical technology and telemedicine, along with new materials and microgravity manufacturing techniques, and methods for cleaning air and water. Were going to need to recycle that in space and we need to do that here on Earth, he says.

His only certainty is surprise. The fun part is, I dont know what were going to need next or what problem were going to run into, whos going to use it or how, he says. And thats the part I find the most fascinating.

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How NASA technology gets used on Earth - Fast Company